Faults:

Leaks/burns oil. It requires about a half quart of oil every two weeks or so.

The exhaust rusted out at the muffler connection, so I hack-sawed it off. It's now kind of loud and dumps right before the rear axle. It's all good though, because I could never get tired of hearing the turbo spool up.

Small amounts of surface rust at the bottoms of the doors.

To be honest, there are probably more things that were necessary that I'm forgetting.

General Comments:

I bought this car with my own hard earned money just a few months after turning 15. It sat in someone's garage for about 8 years, being driven very sparingly. For this reason a lot of seals, hoses, and gaskets had gone bad. To make a long story short, over the two and a half years I've owned it, the car has had around $4000 in work done on it. I bought it for $2000 which was probably a little high, but to me it was completely worth it. This car and I have shared so many memories that the money put into it isn't even important.

The car is not necessarily fast, while it's not too slow. The handling is somewhat mushy, but not too bad for the big boat that it is. I found out that the dependable old engine could not take an excess of boost, but no real problems because of it. The 3speed auto without OD doesn't do any good for the gas mileage, although it doesn't really do too bad. On average the car gets about 17-19 mpg.

I now drive a '97 Z28, and in comparison to the Turbo Coupe it's miles ahead. I still own the thunderbird and drive it in bad weather, and plan on taking it to college with me when I go. After college, and once I've got the money, the Tbird will become a drag/street car project for my dad and I to work on. I can't wait.

For me, the sentimental value is much more important than the car's monetary value.

General Comments:

The 1983-86 Thunderbird coupe is one of my favorite cars. I have owned 20+ cars. I have recently bought my 3rd Tbird. I drove this car everyday, everywhere until someone turned directly in front of me, causing a T-bone collision and totaled the car.

This car had plenty of power after adding some minor medications that everyone should add to their car to improve fuel economy.

The interior is very comfortable and well laid out, and the car is very responsive. This made the car a joy to drive. I found this car to be very reliable if you treat it well and don't beat her hard.

Hence, I put more miles on the Tbirds than any other American vehicle that I have owned. These include a Lincoln, Caddy, 2 Impalas, 4 Ford trucks, 2 Buicks, Camaro, Grand-Am, Firebird, even 2 Dodges, 3 Thunderbirds, and a few imports that I don't care to name.

29th Jul 2007, 09:58

I'm getting my grandmother's 1985 Thunderbird with 22,000 miles. I'd also like to know what you did to improve the fuel economy. Also, what are some things I should look at replacing and/or checking before I make it my everyday car? Please reply to this site or my e-mail, csbickmo@yahoo.com